Russian Air Force Wants To Get 120 Sukhoi Su-34 Strike Aircraft Until 2020- MAKS 2011

Russian Su-34 Fighter Bomber

The Russian air force wants to procure 120 Sukhoi Su-34 strike aircraft, the service's commander has revealed.

Speaking at the MAKS air show in Moscow, Gen Aleksander Zelin said five squadrons will eventually be armed with the two-seat type, with each to have 24 aircraft.

The Russian defence ministry's procurement plan for this year includes 12 Su-34s, and production activities at Sukhoi's NAPO plant in Novosibirsk are gradually picking up.

Orders have been confirmed for 32 Su-34s so far, with seven of these having been accepted into squadron service and a handful more being used by the defence ministry's weapons-assessment units and industry.

The air force is now working with United Aircraft and Sukhoi to firm-up contacts for follow-on batches, and intends to have 70 of the aircraft operational in 2015.

The Su-34 holds a prominent position in Russia's state arms-acquisition programme, which was validated earlier this year and runs until 2020.

It has been developed as a replacement for the air force's Su-24 swing-wing strike aircraft, currently the most numerous type in its combat aircraft inventory and the backbone of its frontal bomber units.

Powered by two AL-31FM engines - developed by NPO Saturn and produced by MMPP Salut - the Su-34 can carry 8,000kg (17,600lb) of weapons on 12 hard points.

In 2010, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev offered Beijing an export version dubbed the Su-32, but there has been no indication so far that China, or any other international customer, is seeking to acquire the aircraft.

Read More AT:

FlightGlobal

Comments

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

ASIAN DEFENCE

Search This Blog